Wednesday, May 15, 2013

If you have it, you know how maddening it can be. You are ready to fall asleep, relaxed, calm and then you just have the urge to move your legs. Or you are sitting still watching a movie in a theater and you have this creeping feeling in your feet. Standing helps. Walking helps. But when you try to go to sleep again, it's back.

Back when I was obese, I was evicted to the guest room because of my snoring. When that subsided, I was welcomed back. Until my legs started kicking bad. Oh well. But even sleeping alone doesn't help me, though She(WMBO) sleep the night through.

My sister sent me an article about a new study. They have been studying dopamine as a trigger. Too much of it I think is the problem. So I have been on a dopamine suppressor called Ropinerole. The problem is, the symptoms have gotten stronger over the years and I have become dependent on the drug to get even the little sleep I do get. Some nights, I give it a few hours and I take a second dose. That usually does the trick, but then I sleep a long time and wake with a dehydration headache; a couple of liters of water makes the headache go away. I don't like that so I avoid it.

I thought this was all just me. The article says that RLS sufferers on average get 5.5 hours of sleep and unlike most insomniacs, they aren't sleep during the day. Well, I don't know about not sleepy, but I am functional and I would love to take a nap like I used to, but the minute I try to drop off, my legs start up.

The new study mentioned in the article found another chemical in the brain also responsible for RLS, glutamate. My symptoms, time of sleep, and progressing dependence are all mentioned in the article. I am not sure if that is good news or not.